I’m going to Iowa! Where is Iowa, exactly?!

Actually, I do know where Iowa is; I’ve driven through it on I-80 countless times on my way back and for to the east and west coasts. Vast stretches of corn and soybean fields, really down to earth people, wide open skies. That’s what I remember. We’ll see how well memory serves…

A little personal and Iowa background, if I may be so bold…

In early June, I was living in Japan at a Buddhist temple when I was contacted by Jeff Lins in Iowa. He had started a project to distribute 30,000 dvd’s to the people of Iowa. 30,000 dvd’s about Dr. Paul. He had a tight deadline, and needed help finding editors to put the dvd together. Could I help? You bet. I sent out a plea for help to various mailing lists, meetup groups, etc. and was promptly inundated with offers of help. In all, I received over 50 responses from professional editors, amateur editors, non-editors. The support was unbelievable and lifted me about 3 feet up off the ground in elation.

With the help of about 6 editors, Jeff managed to create a dvd. You can see the video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2284724646717174405. He ended up with funding for 13,500 dvd’s which are supposed to arrive this Friday. I am simply amazed that a group of volunteers could get together and create something so quickly. The dedication of these folks was truly inspiring, and I send a big “thank you” to everyone who helped with this project.

Anyway, when I arrived in the States on Saturday, the 14th, I immediately called Jeff and asked if I could help out in Iowa. He talked to the other folks in the meetup, and they invited me to come to Iowa to help coordinate the out of state volunteers.